In the second episode of the third season of Veronica Mars, Veronica goes undercover in a sorority; Keith tries to go home; and Logan and Wallace are part of a disturbing experiment for a class. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Veronica Mars.
Trigger Warning: We must talk about rape to talk about Veronica and Parker, and then we have to talk about how Rafe is a humongous bigot about race. And weight. And height. And is terrifying.
There are three major plots in this episode, so I’ll address them each on their own! This season is already TOO MUCH FOR ME.
The Prison Experiment
I’m actually surprised that Mr. Kinny didn’t actually address the Stanford prison experiment itself in any of his lectures, but the whole characterization of his sociology class is kind of shaky at best. I mean, this is what you do for Intro to Sociology? This is a 100-level course in a public university??? Did those kids even get a syllabus before that professor threw them into PSYCHOLOGICAL TORTURE? Who fucking knows? So yeah, the very existence of this experiment is ridiculous, but let’s just accept that it happened and talk about it. RAFE IS HORRIFYING, and he’s a perfect example of why this sort of experiment, which really took place in August of 1971, demonstrated just what people were willing to do to one another. Obviously, there was a degradation of scientific control in the original case, but I think there are stunning parallels between what Veronica Mars just created and what actually happened. It’s not lost on me that the most privileged of the group quickly falls into the role of being the most abusive, and then, at the conclusion of the experiment, is able to say that it all was part of the experiment. There’s always been arguments that the behavior in the original Stanford prison was situational, rather than dispositional, that the environment of the experiment itself is what brought out the sadistic tendencies in many of the guards, but I don’t think that’s the case. And that’s not what I believe about Rafe, either. He’s the only person here who takes the experiment so seriously that he taps into an internal narrative about power and control. He is quick to be unbelievably racist and cruel; he exploits the suffering of Horshack without a second thought. (Oh my god, that was Samm Levine. I THOUGHT HE LOOKED FAMILIAR.) Even after Wallace beautifully manipulates him and wins the experiment, note that Rafe is furious that Wallace and the others didn’t defer to his superiority. Holy shit, did, YOU WON. SHUT UP. YOU ARE SO CREEPY.
There was a neat bit of unspoken rivalry and understanding between Wallace and Logan in this plot, though. Are they going to start being friends? Oh god, SO MUCH WEIRD TENSION BETWEEN THEM. Is there Logan/Wallace fic out there? Wogan? Lallace? Wow, they have a terrible ship name.
Keith / The Fitzpatricks
I imagine that this episode could close the book on the Fitzpatricks, except that Liam might come after Keith. There’s still a fascinating parallel between Keith’s story and Veronica’s regardless: both characters make a huge mistake in pursuing a case, and people get hurt as a result of it. Again, this show has demonstrated a willingness to portray the main characters, who are all good people, in a negative light, and that’s certainly the case with Keith. After falling right into Cormac’s trap and hearing the murder of Kendall Casablancas, he’s left wandering the desert in an attempt to escape his own murder. It’s surreal and brutal, even for Veronica Mars, and I admit that it feels largely disconnected from the narrative as a whole. But I think that’s by design. Veronica and her father are both in very different (and new!) worlds, and as they try to grapple with control over their chaotic situations, it exposes fascinating things about their characterization. Keith hadn’t really been in the business of helping people disappear, which was something I brought up in the last review, and so he has to deal with being in over his head. He’s smart enough to trick Cormac into getting caught in a bear trap, which inadvertently leads to Cormac’s death at the hands of Liam, who was always looking for Kendall and the money she stole from him.
This was all a bit confusing, though, because I couldn’t tell where it was headed. What’s the point? And how was Keith going to explain to the sheriffs that he knew Kendall was killed without admitting that he was helping her escape the country with fake documents? This isn’t really answered. We know Cormac is dead, and we know that Liam is… walking around the desert still? We don’t know if the sheriffs found any leads to link Kendall to Keith’s claim. However, in a twist I never, ever saw coming, we find that there wasn’t any money in her briefcase. It was Vincent Van Gogh’s Two Lovers. THE ORIGINAL. WHAT THE FUCK. Did she steal that from Dick Casablancas???? Regardless, Keith, being the giant sweetheart he is, he wants the proceeds of the sale of the painting to go to the Neptune Food Bank. WHICH IS AMAZING. BLESS YOUR HEART. The resolution of this is strange, but hey, something good came of it!
Veronica / Parker / Mac
This is a difficult mess, though I think that in one sense, it needs to be. Veronica is no longer at Neptune High School, and it’s obvious from what happens in this episode that Veronica is out of her element. (Again, a nice parallel to what’s going on with Keith.) Her own prejudices bias her against the truth of what actually happened at the sorority, though I’m worried about the dichotomy the writers are setting up here. Initially, Veronica has every reason to suspect wrongdoing at Theta Zeta, especially since Parker came from there right before she was raped. Someone knew that she’d been drugged, so the list of suspects naturally should include those at the sorority house and those who helped her get home. Unfortunately, Veronica’s suspicions, egged on by Nish at the school paper, paint a picture that simply isn’t true. First of all, Veronica just doesn’t like the idea of sororities, though it’s understandable why they don’t appeal to her. But Veronica is also used to suspecting the worst of everything, so all the “evidence” she collects during her story for the paper points in the wrong direction. She assumes the purse collecting is malicious. She assumes the private parties facilitate the rapes. She assumes that the cameras are meant to spy on prospective victims. She assumes Moe never mentioned driving Parker home. Seriously, it all looked like an open-and-shut case as the evidence mounted against the sorority!
But the problem I’m hoping we don’t see is the sort of radical caricaturization present in those against the Greek culture at the university. As it stands, they’re all radical feminists, and nearly all of them are also women of color. We don’t know much of anything about Nish and Fern except that they despise everything that Greek culture stands for, and it’s all just a monolith to them. I understand that this episode largely skewers the idea that there is a black-and-white morality in the world. When it’s revealed that Theta Zeta’s den mother has cancer and that the pot they’re growing is for medicinal purposes, it’s clear that Veronica got this so, so, so wrong. But you’re telling me that someone like Nish wouldn’t care about another woman’s health? Her character and Fern’s exist here to direct Veronica in the wrong direction, and that’s it. I dunno, it’s weird, and I’m worried that these characters aren’t being fleshed out like most of the side characters are at this point.
Perhaps this is all just premature of me. I do love the way that the writers handle Parker’s complicated, emotional journey. She’s volatile in the wake of her rape, and Mac is left confused as to how she can support someone. On top of that, it’s uncomfortable for everyone involved when Veronica has to reveal that she and Mac came into the room at the exact moment that Parker was most likely being raped. I’m glad that the episode so openly addresses the problem with viewing women’s sexual activity in a negative manner, though this isn’t Mac or Veronica’s fault either. However, it’s Parker’s domineering mother who disturbed me the most. If there’s anyone victim blaming here, it’s her, and I was horrified that her mother basically implied that Parker was raped because she was “immature.” THAT IS YOUR OWN DAUGHTER YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT. I’m happy, then, that Mac saw what a toxic environment Parker would be going home to and then offered to have her back if she stayed at Hearst.
This whole thing is hard to watch and a bit of a mess to watch, so I hope that explains why I might be a bit more critical than usual. I still loved this episode, and I’m eager to see where season three is going. It’s just a rough subject for me, that’s all!
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